I’m currently bed ridden as I injured my ankle pretty badly during yoga this morning. My ankle was weak from a sprain that occurred a little over two weeks ago and I think it wasn’t completely healed so it was easily reinjured. It’s tough to deal with considering being active and being outside is what makes me happy. But I’m trying to make the best of it by getting some work done, reading something other than scientific papers, and spilling some thoughts into this blog.
I just got back a few days ago from an extended trip to the East Coast. I spent the first week in Washington, DC participating in the Science Outside the Laboratory Program I mentioned in my last post. I then decided to hang out in Central Virginia with my family while working remotely for a little over a week. I think the change of environment was good for me considering I was able to finish up a study I was working on for my dissertation and have since moved on to the next phase of my research. I feel renewed and ready to make further progress with my work.
While I was gone, I also visited with a few different people I hadn’t seen in a long time. My first week, I met with my friend Dinara who I met when I first started rock climbing at a gym north of Washington in Rockville, MD. Dinara actually came to visit me when I was living in Kentucky, and we went climbing together at the Red River Gorge. She has since taken a long hiatus from climbing (she had a pretty major injury and sort of lost interest post-surgery) but we enjoyed catching up on each other’s lives and she even showed me a place in DC called Blagden Alley. Blagden Alley is one of DC’s few remaining alleys, which used to intersect in the hundreds behind rowhouses and date back to the nineteenth century. According to Dinara, many of the alleys were rid of due to high crime rates but the ones that remain today are now hotspots for bars, restaurants, shopping, and arts.
I also visited with my friend Ina, who I met at the same climbing gym as Dinara in Rockville. Ina is also taking a break from climbing, but for different reasons. She just birthed her first child and is still easing into activities. We had a wonderful, lengthy, and heartfelt conversation and I was glad to catch up with a person I felt I could be completely authentic around without fear of any type of judgement. I’m hoping Ina and her new family make it out to Arizona sometime soon!
Lastly, I took a day trip out to Charlottesville, VA to meet up with my mentor Callan and his family. We explored the farmers market, ate vegan noodles, and Callan and I took a short trip to a rock garden outside Virginia’s Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy Division of Minerals Resources office on the University of Virginia campus.
My favorite rock in the garden was a blue kyanite from Baker Mountain in Prince Edward County, VA. According to a quick web search, the rock is from the Arvonia Formation of the Virginia Piedmont (one of those provinces I’ve mentioned previously). Arvonia Formation rocks are metasedimentary, and the source of the sediments that make up the formation is unclear, however, the presence of kyanite tells us that those sediments got pretty hot!
Anyway, in addition to visiting with some old friends I spent a lot of time with my family. It’s been hard for me living all the way out in Arizona with most of my immediate family on the East Coast. This is the farthest away from home I’ve ever been in my life, so I always appreciate when I have an opportunity to visit or when they come out here to see me. I also got to spend time with my sibling on their 21st birthday, which was really special. It feels like not that long ago I was changing their diapers (they grow up so fast…).
OROGENY ODYSSEY 